shadow. The shadow stared helplessly back, resigned to its fate.
The light looked away from the shadow. The light looked about the room. The light was anxious. It continued looking about the room, still a little sleepy but rapidly becoming energized. The light felt something threatening but it didn’t know what it was.
Momentarily, it would be in full control of its powers.
The Hawkline Monster felt that something was very wrong.
The shadow watched its nervous master.
The monster’s mind, like a tree in an early winter storm, shook off the leaves of sleep.
The shadow wished that the Hawkline Monster were dead, even though it would probably have to follow the monster into oblivion.
Anything was better than the living hell of having to be in partnership with the Hawkline Monster and do all these evil things.
The shadow remembered back to previous stages of The Chemicals and how exciting it was to be created by Professor Hawkline. At that time the light was benevolent, almost giddy with the excitement of having just been created. There was a future with the possibility of help and joy for all mankind. Then the light changed in attitude. The light concealed its personality change from Professor Hawkline.
The light started pulling little pranks that the professor let pass as accidents. Something falling over or something being changed into something else, so that the professor thought that he had made the mistake or something had been mislabeled and then the light found that it could leave the jar and move about and of course the poor innocent shadow of the light was forced to follow and become a participant-observer in pranks that gathered in momentum until they became acts of evil.
After while Professor Hawkline knew that there was something very wrong with The Chemicals but he kept thinking right up to the moment that the monster did that terrible thing to him that he would be able to correct the balance of The Chemicals and complete the experiment with humanitarian possibilities for the entire world.
But that was never to be because one afternoon when the professor was upstairs working on a new formula in his study the light pulled its most gross evil prank upon him. The shadow shuddered to think about it.
The light was at last totally awake and knew that it was being severely threatened by the people upstairs and it had better take care of that threat right now.
The light crawled out of The Chemicals and balanced on the rim of the jar in preparation for departure and the shadow reluctantly prepared to follow.
• The Decision •
“Yes,” Miss Hawkline said, finally.
Her sister nodded in agreement.
“It’s a difficult decision but it’s the only way,” Miss Hawkline said. “I’m sorry that this had to happen to our father’s lifework but there are things that are more important.”
“Yeah, our lives,” Cameron interrupted. He was impatient. He wanted to go downstairs right now and throw that jar of stuff out and then sleep tonight beside the body of a Hawkline woman. He was tired. It had been a long day.
“We have the formula to The Chemicals,” Miss Hawkline said. “Perhaps we can start over again or give it to somebody who might be interested in it.”
“I don’t know,” the other Miss Hawkline said. “I’m a little tired of the whole thing, so let’s not talk about the future now. Let’s just pour the stuff out and get some sleep. I’m tired.”
“Those are my feelings,” Cameron said.
• Upstairs •
The monster drifted off the lip of the jar and glided across the laboratory to land on the bottom step of the stairs that led upward to the house.
The shadow clumsily followed behind it, darker than the darkness in the room, more silent than complete silence and alone in the tragedy of its servitude to evil.
Then the Hawkline Monster flowed like a reverse waterfall up the stairs. It sparkled and reflected as it moved. The shadow followed behind it, a reluctant complement of
The light looked away from the shadow. The light looked about the room. The light was anxious. It continued looking about the room, still a little sleepy but rapidly becoming energized. The light felt something threatening but it didn’t know what it was.
Momentarily, it would be in full control of its powers.
The Hawkline Monster felt that something was very wrong.
The shadow watched its nervous master.
The monster’s mind, like a tree in an early winter storm, shook off the leaves of sleep.
The shadow wished that the Hawkline Monster were dead, even though it would probably have to follow the monster into oblivion.
Anything was better than the living hell of having to be in partnership with the Hawkline Monster and do all these evil things.
The shadow remembered back to previous stages of The Chemicals and how exciting it was to be created by Professor Hawkline. At that time the light was benevolent, almost giddy with the excitement of having just been created. There was a future with the possibility of help and joy for all mankind. Then the light changed in attitude. The light concealed its personality change from Professor Hawkline.
The light started pulling little pranks that the professor let pass as accidents. Something falling over or something being changed into something else, so that the professor thought that he had made the mistake or something had been mislabeled and then the light found that it could leave the jar and move about and of course the poor innocent shadow of the light was forced to follow and become a participant-observer in pranks that gathered in momentum until they became acts of evil.
After while Professor Hawkline knew that there was something very wrong with The Chemicals but he kept thinking right up to the moment that the monster did that terrible thing to him that he would be able to correct the balance of The Chemicals and complete the experiment with humanitarian possibilities for the entire world.
But that was never to be because one afternoon when the professor was upstairs working on a new formula in his study the light pulled its most gross evil prank upon him. The shadow shuddered to think about it.
The light was at last totally awake and knew that it was being severely threatened by the people upstairs and it had better take care of that threat right now.
The light crawled out of The Chemicals and balanced on the rim of the jar in preparation for departure and the shadow reluctantly prepared to follow.
• The Decision •
“Yes,” Miss Hawkline said, finally.
Her sister nodded in agreement.
“It’s a difficult decision but it’s the only way,” Miss Hawkline said. “I’m sorry that this had to happen to our father’s lifework but there are things that are more important.”
“Yeah, our lives,” Cameron interrupted. He was impatient. He wanted to go downstairs right now and throw that jar of stuff out and then sleep tonight beside the body of a Hawkline woman. He was tired. It had been a long day.
“We have the formula to The Chemicals,” Miss Hawkline said. “Perhaps we can start over again or give it to somebody who might be interested in it.”
“I don’t know,” the other Miss Hawkline said. “I’m a little tired of the whole thing, so let’s not talk about the future now. Let’s just pour the stuff out and get some sleep. I’m tired.”
“Those are my feelings,” Cameron said.
• Upstairs •
The monster drifted off the lip of the jar and glided across the laboratory to land on the bottom step of the stairs that led upward to the house.
The shadow clumsily followed behind it, darker than the darkness in the room, more silent than complete silence and alone in the tragedy of its servitude to evil.
Then the Hawkline Monster flowed like a reverse waterfall up the stairs. It sparkled and reflected as it moved. The shadow followed behind it, a reluctant complement of
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